Pau Gasol is one of 10 Lakers players who will become free agents Monday night at 9:01. Gasol might stay in some of GM Mitch Kupchak's scenarios. RONALD MARTINEZ, GETTY IMAGES

LAKERS FREE AGENTS

These players will become unrestricted free agents at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Tuesday:

• Kent Bazemore

• MarShon Brooks

• Jordan Farmar

• Pau Gasol

• Xavier Henry

• Jordan Hill

• Wesley Johnson

• Chris Kaman

• Jodie Meeks

• Nick Young

The Lakers will introduce Julius Randle on Monday morning, showing off their prized pick in Thursday’s draft. While drafting Randle was a nice start in what will be an active offseason, forgive General Manager Mitch Kupchak if he keeps checking his cell phone or tries to duck out of the news conference early.

He and the rest of the Lakers’ front office will be busy.

Monday marks the final day before teams are allowed to begin negotiating with free agents, and yes, pipe dreamers, that includes LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Even after drafting Randle and Missouri guard Jordan Clarkson, the Lakers have only six players on the roster, seven below the league minimum they’ll have to hit by the start of the season.

“It’s nice to almost be halfway through,” Kupchak quipped Thursday.

The Lakers are among the teams that certainly hope their free agency future involves being able to pitch a Hollywood ending to James before he re-ups with the Heat after opting out of his max-level contract. Same with Anthony, who is most commonly believed to headed back to New York or on the move to Chicago.

Kupchak isn’t allowed to comment on players specifically, but asked about the top talent in this free agent class — which falls off sharply after James and Anthony — said, “We’re prepared.

“If any of those players do want to make a move, we’re prepared. If we get word when we’re allowed to get word, we will go all out.”

Going all out could, and likely will, include Kobe Bryant making pitches to his close friend, Anthony, and James.

The Lakers will have roughly $28.6 million in cap room to spend this summer, and could throw it at restricted free agents such as Detroit center Greg Monroe, Phoenix point guard Eric Bledsoe or Utah swingman Gordon Hayward. Or, if the Lakers decide that this is not the year to invest big money in a free agent, the Lakers could take a similar path to the one they followed last year, when they signed free agents to one-year deals, guaranteeing flexibility in the offseason.

Short of luring James, the four-time MVP, perhaps the biggest issue facing the Lakers is what to do with their own free agents. Pau Gasol, Jodie Meeks, Jordan Farmar and Nick Young are all established contributors who will draw interest on the open market, while the value of younger players such as Xavier Henry and Kent Bazemore is tougher to quantify after they played well, but on an atrocious Lakers team that finished 27-55.

In total, 10 members of last year’s team will become unrestricted free agents on Tuesday, while former second-round pick Ryan Kelly is awaiting a qualifying offer that would make him a restricted free agent. While teams can begin negotiating on Tuesday, they can not sign players until July 10.

The Lakers were close to trading Gasol several times throughout his seven-year tenure, including last winter in exchange for additional salary cap flexibility. The Spaniard clashed with Coach Mike D’Antoni, but could find his way back into the fold with the Lakers, Kupchak said following the draft. The question, as always, would just be of what it would cost.

“We’re going to have to sort through our challenges,” Kupchak said, “and there are scenarios where Pau would be back, where we’d pursue him. And there are scenarios that he wouldn’t be back or he chooses to go someplace else.”

D’Antoni’s May resignation certainly opened the door for Gasol’s return. However, the veteran of two NBA titles made it clear at the team’s exit interviews in April that he was excited to become a free agent for the first time, and would enjoy choosing his own destination.

“It’s an exciting moment that I want to be able to enjoy,” Gasol said, “and not be too stressed about even though at some point I’m going to have to make a decision. I have to decide where I’m going to play and who I’m going to play with. It would be exciting.”

The Lakers face a similar decision with Young. The flamboyant scorer had a ball in his first season with the hometown Lakers, averaging a team-high 17.9 points. He opted out of the second year of his contract which would have paid him little more than $1 million.

“Certainly there's a lot of interest on both sides if something can work,” Young’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, said last week. “It's all part of the business and free agency's part of it, I think the intentions are good on both sides.”

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